Belt buckle



Mgrch 26, 1935. c. ROSENBLUM BELT BUCKLE Filed Feb. 16, 1954 INV Mm Y 7 2041 i ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 26, 1935 i PATENT OFFICE BELT BUCKLE Charles Rosenblum, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Krischers' Manufacturing Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 16, 1934, Serial No. 711,452

' 1 Claims.

which enters an opening in the other member,

and with thisconstruction, it is usually necessary to provide some means for preventing accidental dislodgment of the hook from the opening. Va-

rious expedients, such as spring tongues and the like have been used for the purpose, and it is the practice to form the hook in such a way that the two membersof the buckle haveto be moved toward each other or bent out of the normal plane of the buckle so that the hook can be engaged or released. Such buckles are objectionable not only because of the cost of manufacture but also because of the difficulty of putting on and taking off the belts on which they are used.

The buckle of the present invention avoids these objectionable features of the old buckles, and it includes a pair of members of great simplicity of construction and capable of being fastened together or separated with only a slight bending movement. The two members are of the plate type and one member has a hook receivable in an opening in the other. Also, one of the members has a tongue which is resiliently gripped by parts on the other member when the members are assembled. Engagement and disengagement of the hook from the opening can be effected only by flexing the tongue against the pressure of the resilient gripping parts and when the hook lies within the opening, the cooperation of the tongue and the gripping parts prevents its dislodgment.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a View in rear elevation of the two buckle members attached to ends of a belt;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the buckle mem-- bers secured together, the members being shown on the lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the members showing the manner in which they are secured together, the section being on the line 33 of Figure 1; and s Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 showing the members in the position which they assume at the completion of the assembling operation.

Referring now to the drawing, the buckle is illustrated as comprising a pair of members 10, 11, each of which includes a plate portion 12 stamped or otherwise formed from sheet metal and provided with cars 13 on its side edges between which is pivotally mounted a clamping jaw 14. This jaw has teeth 15 along one edge and a tail 16 by which it may be operated. In attaching a buckle member to the belt 1'7, the clamping jaw of the member is swung to open position, the end of the belt is inserted between the jaw and the plate of the member, and the jaw is then turned so that the teeth thereon engage the belt and force it against the back of the plate.

In order that the buckle members may be secured together, one member 10 is provided with a book, 18 extending to the rear from the free end of the member. This hook lies in an opening 19 formed in a spring leaf 20, which-is an integral extension from the plate of the member and is bent so that its free end lies against the rear surface of the plate. The end of theleaf may, if desired, be bifurcated as indicated in Figure 1. The second member 11 is provided with a tongue 21 formed as an integral extension from the free edge of the plate off the member and slightly offset rearwardly from the face of the plate. This extension has a bifurcated free end and it is formed with a central depression 22 providing a channel leading to an opening 23, the channel being of decreasing depth toward the opening. This opening is for the purpose of receiving the hook 18 on the member 10, and, if desired, the tongue may be provided with a recess rather than an opening through it.

In assembling the buckle, the tongue 21 in the member 11 is introduced into the opening 19 and the two members moved together. During this movement, the hook 18 enters the depression 22 in the tongue 21 and slides along in contact with the bottom of the depression until it enters the recess. Assuming that the member 10 is stationary and the member 11 is being moved toward it, the tongue 21 enters the opening 19 and because of the contact of the hook 18 with the top of the tongue, the member 11 must be moved at an angle to the member 10. As the movement continues, the free end of the tongue passes beneath the free end of the spring leaf 20 and moves the end of the leaf away from the rear surface of the plate 12. A slight flexure of both the tongue and the leaf is required in the operation of locking the two members of the buckle together, and after the hook 18 has entered the opening 23, the hook cannot be accidentally dislodged. When the members are to be taken apart, the operation of releasing the hook from the opening requires a slight flexure of the tongue and spring leaf. Ordinarily, the members will be swung in opposite directions about a transverse axis passing substantially through the hook and only slight rotary movements are required to free the hook from the opening. As soon as the hook rides up on the surface of the depression 22 in the tongue, the leaf and tongue tend to assume their normal unflexed condition and they assist in forcing the hook along the depression to the end of the tongue and help the members to -separate.

With a buckle of the new construction, the separation of the buckle members requiresthe'application of no force applied lengthwise of the belt since the members are simply grasped in thehands and their remote ends moved backward slightly. Themembers may be secured together with equal facility and the parts cannotseparate accidentally when the belt'is in use. The desired locking effect is obtained in the new buckle with a construction much simpler and cheaper than those heretofore used and the buckle can be assembled and taken apart with much greater ease.

What I claim:

1. A belt buckle which comprises a pair of members, each including a plate andmeans thereon for attachingsaid member to an end of the belt, a resilient extension from the end of one of said members, said extension being folded back and having a portion thereof lying closeto the rear surface of the plate of said member, said extension having an opening through it adjacent the line of folding and a hook entering saidbpening, a tongue at the end of the other member receivable in said opening in the first member, and a recess adjacent the base of said tongue for receiving said hook, said tongue being engaged by said extension when the hookis in said recess.

2. A belt buckle which comprises a pair of members, each including a plate and means-thereon for attaching said member to an end of the belt, a resilient extension from the end 01' one of said members folded back and having a portion lying close to the rear surface of the plate of said member, said extension having an opening through it adjacent the line of folding, a tongue on the second member receivable in said opening in the first member, a hook on one member, and a recess in the other member in which said hook may be received, said tongue extending through said opening and being engaged by said extension when said hook is in said recess.

3. A belt buckle which comprises a pair of members, each including a plate and means thereon for attaching said member to an end of the belt, a spring finger extending from the end of one member and folded back and having a portion lying close to the rear surface of the plate of said member, said extension having an opening through it'adjacent the line of folding, a hook on said member extending into said opening, a

tongue extending from the end of the other memher and receivable in said opening, and a recess formediin said tongue adjacent the base thereof for receiving said hook when said tongue enters said opening, said tongue being clamped between said portion of thespring finger and said rear surface of'the plate, when said hook is'in said recess.

4. Abelt buckle which comprises a pair of members, each including a plate and means thereon for attaching said member to amend of the belt, a resilient extension from the end of one of said members folded back and having a portion lying close to the rear surface of the plate of said member, said extension having an opening through it adjacent the line of folding, a hook on said member extending into-said opening, a tongue extending from the endof the other member andreceivable in said opening, and a recess formed in said tongue for receiving said hook, said tongue extending through said opening and being clamped between said portion of the resilient extension and said rear surface of-the plate, when said hook is in saidrecess.

CHARLES ROSENBLUM. 

